


Hope Is Not Lost

by lannisterslioness



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Death Star, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Smut, F/M, Falling In Love, I'll add more characters later, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Tumblr Prompt, i'll add more tags later as things come up, i'm the worst at thinking ahead
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-10
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-09-16 12:31:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9271850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lannisterslioness/pseuds/lannisterslioness
Summary: It was just another mission, that's what Cassian Andor had told himself. It was supposed to be just a mission - befriend Galen Erso, get the plans to the Empire's newest super weapon, and assassinate him so the Empire couldn't so easily build another. What Cassian didn't plan on was falling in love with Galen's sharp-witted daughter, Jyn. He tells himself he's using her to get to Galen, but deep down he knows that's a damn lie, but telling her the truth of who he is and what he has to do is a pain far too great for Cassian to bear.





	1. Joreth Sward

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I got this as a prompt not that long ago from the lovely @poesreyofsunshine! I'm going to say this right now, this idea grew into something HUGE, and I hope you guys are ready to buckle yourselves in and have some snacks at the ready cause you're going to be here for a while ;) I love this idea, and hopefully you guys will love it too, I can't wait to hear what you think about it <3

    Cassian had gone on missions before that required undercover work, it was his job after all with being a spy for the Rebellion. He always hated the assignments that involved him going undercover as Imperial personnel, it made him want to crawl out of his own skin - but a mission was a mission, and this was one he couldn’t choose to back out of. It involved going deep undercover, a mission that would probably take a few months, in order to get close to one Imperial scientist - Galen Erso - the supposed engineer behind the Empire’s newest super weapon, one capable of destroying planets. His mission was straightforward; obtain proof of the weapon along with it’s plans, and assassinate Galen Erso. 

 

    A new identity would have made the mission much longer on time the Rebellion didn’t have, which meant Cassian had to use one of his old identities that was already affiliated with the Empire.  _ Joreth Sward _ , a high ranking benefactor and contributor to the Empire that was maintained by other Rebellion contacts undercover to make Joreth himself rarely seen and barely heard from. Joreth Sward choosing to see the weapon he’s invested his money into would be an almost expected move, and from the other contacts, Director Orson Krennic was especially keen on meeting Mr. Sward and showing him his investment.  

 

    “From what intel we have, they haven’t finished the weapon yet, though it will be done in a few months time. You’ll be going to Eadu and meeting Krennic there where you’ll be introduced to Erso since he’s the head of this whole project. After that, insist on staying on planet until the construction is complete, in that time you can get close enough to Erso to hopefully earn his trust and complete your mission.” General Draven informed him. “Given Kaytoo’s... _ attitude _ , we don’t recommend him going with you, but if you can get him to blend in, it could be a benefit.” 

 

    “Attitude? What is that supposed to mean?” Kaytoo questioned in his usual tone of being done with nearly everything and everyone around him. 

 

    “Kay.” Cassian hissed under his breath. “I’ll get the mission done, sir.” 

 

    “For the sake of the Rebellion I hope so. It won’t be easy to get Erso to trust you, he’s a very paranoid man from what we’ve been able to gather. He does have one weakness though should your attempts to gain his trust fail; he has a daughter, Jyn Erso, she lives on planet with him, use her to get to him if you have to.” General Draven explained. 

 

    Cassian had used people before to get what he needed for a mission, he’d manipulate what they thought they wanted, he’d make them fall in love with him, he did what he had to - though it never made it any easier. 

 

    “Of course, sir.” Cassian replied. 

 

    “Good, you leave tomorrow, spend today getting your facts straight and hopefully if all goes smoothly, we’ll finally have a leg up against the Empire.” He stated. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


    Cassian spent the entire rest of the day, holed up in his room and going through piles and piles of data, intel gathered from other agents on everyone he’d be interacting with. Director Krennic’s weaknesses were something Cassian could easily work with, he was a proud man, he wanted recognition for his achievements, approval from someone as high ranking and elusive as Joreth Sward would be exactly what he’d need to hear to get him to do what Cassian needed. Galen Erso’s file was perhaps the smallest of them all unfortunately, him being the most difficult to get acquainted with. All the Rebellion agents had on Galen was that he was a reserved man, he was brilliant and clever, not easily swayed, but that his fatal weakness was his only child - Jyn. 

 

    To his relief, Jyn’s file was substantial; she was only a few years younger than Cassian, she cared for her father just as deeply as her father cared for her. She had a tendency to be abrupt, she liked to keep things at a distance; Cassian didn’t want to know how one of the informants managed to piece together that she was easily swayed when it came to relationships, someone noted that she wanted to leave Eadu for good. That small flaw of her having a desperate need to leave, and a fairly easy weakness for falling in love would be Cassian’s way to her, though he’d try to work through Galen on his own first before resorting to such cruel manipulation of someone’s heart. 

 

    He memorized what they all looked like, they were names and faces he would need to know. Perhaps he lingered on Jyn’s photo a bit longer than the others, mostly because it was different somehow. They were all ID photos pulled from the bases data bank, they were all bland and cold and harsh, but Jyn’s wasn’t. She dared to have a small smile on her lips, and her eyes twinkled with something that Cassian could almost call hope. 

 

    “Are you having a hard time remembering that girls face? Or do you find her face particularly attractive?” Kaytoo asked suddenly, pulling Cassian out of his thoughts. “According to my calculations from all the women you’ve previously liked, it’s a very high chance that you find this Jyn Erso very attractive.” 

 

    “She’s a mission Kay.” Cassian hissed, turning off the data pad. 

 

    “Of course.” Kaytoo nodded. “But really, it’s very likely that you would like to-” 

 

    “Goodnight Kay.” Cassian cut him off by turning out the lights in the room and rolling over on his side to have his back to the droid. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


    The next day Cassian and Kaytoo were taken out to Eadu by one of their informants Imperial shuttles, he had to meet Krennic aboard a Star Destroyer before heading down to Eadu. Cassian hated having to shave to take on this new identity, he hated how stiff the uniform felt too, having been used to his far more relaxed Rebellion attire, but there were plenty of things that Cassian hated about becoming Joreth Sward - such as knowing all he’d have to do and the calls he’d have to make.  

 

    “I highly suggest you stop fidgeting.” Kaytoo said as they approached the Star Destroyer. “You don’t see many Imperials fidget.” 

 

    Begrudgingly, Cassian stopped, though the uniform still annoyed him to no end. As the shuttle came to a halt and docked inside the destroyer, some of his nerves threatened to get to him, it happened to him on every mission to remind him what he was fighting for, but as soon as the loading dock descended, Cassian Andor was now Joreth Sward. 

 

    Orson Krennic was right there and waiting, dressed in his usual attire of a pure white uniform and a cape, it was a power aspect for him, trying to leech off of the power Darth Vader exuded. 

 

    “Joreth Sward, you are quite the illusive man.” Krennic stated with a grin on his face. “Then again it seems that the most powerful men in the Empire are hard to get a hold of.” 

 

    “It’s the benefit of the job.” Cassian replied, a hint of ice in his tone. “I came to see the progress of the weapon, I want to oversee the final preparations for it.” 

 

    “Of course, that can be perfectly arranged. The weapon is safe for boarding just yet, but I can bring you to the head engineer of the weapon, he’s on Eadu.” Krennic quickly scrambled to appease whatever Joreth Sward wanted. 

 

    “That will do.” Cassian replied. “When can we leave for Eadu?” 

 

    “In a few hours, I’ll have them prepare another shuttle for us.” Krennic assured him. “If you’d like I can have your droid sent to a charging station until we leave.” 

 

    “That would be good.” Cassian stated, stepping aside for Kaytoo to descend down the platform first. 

 

    Cassian was grateful that Krennic was far too preoccupied with keeping Joreth Sward happy instead of looking back to see the look Kaytoo gave him; for a droid, Kaytoo  _ despised _ being around other droids.  _ “They’re mindless.”  _ Kaytoo would often site, and even though Kaytoo had been giving different programming thanks to Cassian, there was a certain freeness to him compared to how Imperial droids were programmed. 

 

    “How about a tour to occupy some time?” Krennic offered, to which Cassian gave a brief nod before following Krennic around the station. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


    Eadu wasn’t a paradise, and all of it’s storms were certainly something that Cassian was not used to; the cold only made the rain worse. Cassian had made it to Eadu at night, though it was hard to tell with the constant clouds and rain, and Krennic had every scientist on the base lined up outside, enduring the rain. At the head of them all was Galen Erso, standing just as tall and resolute as the others behind him. 

 

    “Welcome to Eadu.” Galen spoke for the rest of his men, seemingly unphased by the pouring rain, either he was used to it or it was something he had to endure in front of superior officers. 

 

    “Senator Sward will be staying here on Eadu until the weapon is complete, I’m sure you will be happy to provide him whatever information he asks of you.” Krennic stated, barking it out more as an order. 

 

    “Of course, we’ll be more than happy to oblige to Senator Sward’s requests.” Galen replied, parroting back what Krennic had said, and Krennic not seeming to sense what Cassian could - that Galen hated every word he spoke to the man. 

 

    “Good to hear. I’ll be back in a few weeks to check on the progress, make sure Senator Sward and his droid are taken care of.” Krennic stated before giving Cassian a brief send off and heading back to his shuttle. 

 

    “How long will you be staying with us, Senator?” Galen asked after the shuttle had left, still holding his stiff demeanor just as his men were. 

 

    “As long as it takes until the weapon is complete.” Cassian said, trying to get a good read on Galen Erso, though it was futile from how close Galen kept everything to his chest. 

 

    “Well, hopefully it shouldn’t be more than a few months.” Galen said. “Let’s go back inside out of this terrible weather, I’m sure you’re tired from your travels, and unlike most bases, the food here is quite exceptional.” 

 

    “It’s good to hear that they’re at least taking care of the men who are building this weapon.” Cassian replied, though he wasn’t sure if that was Joreth speaking, or Cassian himself. 

 

    “Though the death rate statistics from the construction site of the weapon are staggeringly high.” Kaytoo spoke, Cassian glaring over at his droid while Galen gave Kaytoo a curious look. 

 

    “I can have someone look at your droid, I’m sure the weather of Eadu isn’t ideal and could be messing with it’s circuits.” Galen suggested. 

 

    “That’s alright, I’ll take care of him tonight, repairing droids is a hobby of mine.” Cassian quickly tried to cover for Kaytoo’s outburst. 

 

    “It’s a fine hobby to have.” Galen seemed to easily dismiss the thought, though something told Cassian he wouldn’t forget this. “Let’s go inside, I’m sure we could all use a change of clothes and a warm meal.” 

 

    “Of course.” Cassian nodded. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


    Hot water sounded better than anything else in the galaxy to Cassian as soon as he was finally left alone to his quarters, he head straight to the ‘fresher before anything else to try and get warm again -  _ he hated Eadu _ . Kaytoo had put himself into low power mode to charge in the corner, they both had decided it would be best if Kaytoo stayed here tonight while Cassian went to face Galen again. He was just about to start getting dressed, only a towel wrapped around his wait, when there was a knock on his door; he figured it was one of the soldiers on the base, or hoped it was someone he could scare off to have a few more minutes of peace, instead the door opened to reveal a young woman with those green eyes he had memorized by heart the night before. Of all the people on the entire base to show up at his door,  _ she _ had to show up, and Cassian was relieved that at least Kaytoo was powered down for this moment. 

 

    “Oh, uh, I’m so sorry.” She said, her eyes bolting to his right away to keep from looking at his half naked form. “They sent me up here with dry clothes for you just in case, Senator.” 

 

    “Thank you.” Cassian replied, taking the clothes from her. “What’s your name?” He knew her name, he’d repeated it over and over again in his dreams. 

 

    “Jyn Erso, I’m Galen’s daughter.” She replied, giving a faint smile. “I should go, leave you to getting dressed and everything.” 

 

    She turned to walk away and Cassian should have let it be,  _ Joreth _ should have let it be. 

 

    “Will you be at dinner?” He asked, Jyn stopping in her tracks and turning to face him again. 

 

    “Of course.” She nodded with a smile. 

  
    Cassian had worried about using her before starting this mission, he didn’t want to, but now his concern was trying to keep himself in check around her. 


	2. Spying on a Senator

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I wanted to get chapter two done up and pretty quickly because the inspiration is just everywhere for me for this fic, I've got up as far as chapter four planned so far, which doesn't seem like a lot but for me that is, and I can't wait to dive into it more! Hopefully you guys like this chapter, another familiar face enters the mix ;)

    If there was one thing that Galen Erso had taught his daughter, other than passing on his passion for science, was to never trust anyone. They weren’t the Imperial lap dogs that most of the galaxy had probably believed them to be, they hated them Empire just as much as the Rebels, but Galen had to protect his family, and Jyn had to play the part to keep them safe as well. She swallowed her pride just as much as her father had to, but she gritted her teeth and carried on for the sake of her’s and her father’s safety. 

 

    Senator Joreth Sward was a hard man to find out any information about, then again it wasn’t entirely surprising given his status. He was rarely seen, only consulted with mostly financial efforts from the Empire, and yet he had enough power to make Krennic all but bend down and kiss his boots. Senators didn’t hold quite the same power that they used to before the Emperor rose to power, and from what Jyn was able to look up about him in the past hour was that technically he was Senator of nothing, or the Empire had redacted what he was Senator of. He had power, and a lot of it, which made him dangerous; and he was staying on Eadu until the weapon was complete, watching their every move - that made him  _ highly _ dangerous. That made him a target. 

 

    “I know what you’re doing.” Galen murmured, his eyes never leave his work in front of him on the table while Jyn sat on the other side of the room, closing up her data pad. “I’ll handle the Senator myself.” 

 

    “But I can help, you know how these men are, they’re hard to pry anything from, not to mention someone like him, there’s barely anything about him anywhere.” Jyn huffed. “I’ve already got his attention, he kept looking over at me at dinner-” 

 

    “No.” Galen cut her off, pausing his work for a moment though never turning to face her. “Men like him are dangerous.” 

 

    “I can handle dangerous.” Jyn replied. 

 

    “You haven’t handled someone like Joreth Sward before, I knew men like him all the time before you were born. I’ll handle him, you just keep your head down and try to avoid him.” Galen stated, ending their argument without saying it was over before returning to his work. 

 

   “Fine, I’ll see you in the morning.” Jyn sighed as she rose from her seat before walking over and pressing a kiss to her father’s temple before heading for the door. “Goodnight, papa.” 

 

    “Goodnight, stardust.” Galen replied. 

 

    Jyn had made up her mind long before her discussion with her father, she made up her mind when she noticed Senator Sward look at her the way he did when she brought him a change of clothes and the glances he tried to hide all night. She could use whatever attraction he had to her to her advantage, find out more about, find out how to remove him as a player from this very dangerous game. It would mean she’d have to do things that her father would never approve of in a million years, but if it gave them a way to stop the Empire, Jyn would do almost anything to make that a reality. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


    It had been three days, and all Cassian had managed to really get his hands on so far were a few reports here and there that would actually be of some help to the Rebellion, keeping it aside to include in one of his own reports back to the Rebellion. They were minor things really when compared to the main reason of why he was here, things Kaytoo could have easily found on his own had more pressing matters been presented to him. People on the base avoided him mostly, most of them being to scared to approach the secretive Senator, but it didn’t matter, the only person he had to get close to was Galen Erso. He thought he had time but in reality, there wasn’t much time for him to get on his good side, and as that window slowly closed, the very real possibility he wanted to avoid started looking more like a solution. 

 

    “Well, if anything, I’m sure the Rebellion will be amused by the Empire’s codenames for projects. They’re quite dramatic. Then again, I suppose they should be since the people tend to like walking around in capes.” Kaytoo spoke up, he was almost as bad as a child when it came to silence, he had to find a way to make noise - usually with his remarks. 

 

    “I’m sure they will if we make it out of this alive.” Cassian tried to humor him, even though a droid wasn’t supposed to know what that even really meant, he always felt like Kaytoo understood. 

 

    “I’m going to go download some schematics of the place from the other droids.” Kaytoo let out the equivalent of a sigh before rising to his feet and heading towards the door. “Oh, I almost forgot, Galen Erso is down in the mines for the next few days, I saw it on one of the schedules I discovered, you won’t be making much progress with him until he returns.” 

 

    “Great.” Cassian grumbled. He was starting to realize why the intelligence agents before him had so little information on him. 

 

    “It seems the Erso girl might be a far more viable option at this point. She did seem quite interested and inclined to-” 

 

    “Thank you Kay, I don’t want to know.” Cassian cut him off. 

 

    Cassian heard the door open, but the silence from the lack of Kay’s movements made him turn around to see exactly why his droid had gone so quiet. 

 

    “Ah, Miss Erso, it is nice to see you.” Kaytoo tried to be on his best behavior, too many people around the base were willing to crack him open and check his wiring, he had to be more careful. “I will leave you two to talk.” He stepped aside to allow Jyn into the room before taking his leave silently. 

 

    What was she doing here? Why was she here? Of course something about her presence made Cassian feel something he shouldn’t, but it was also a red flag - she’d spoken a few words to him, she was a junior engineer working on far more minor projects than her father did, her job mostly having to do with the kyber crystals; so what was she doing approaching a Senator? Especially one like Joreth Sward with the reputation Cassian and others had built up for him over the years. He was someone even people like Krennic would try to avoid, so why wasn’t she as scared off as she seemed a few days ago at dinner? 

 

    “Miss Erso, is there something wrong?” He asked, rising from his seat, a simple tactic to put off some easy intimidation, especially given Jyn’s small and slight stature. 

 

    “No, no, it’s nothing.” Jyn said, something about her seemed a bit off, Cassian hadn’t gathered much information about her himself, but something seemed wrong. “You’ve been held up in this room for a while, I thought you might want to stretch your legs. I could show you the lab if you like, you could see first hand what we’re doing down there.” 

 

    Something was off, and Force was she a terrible liar. “Ah, well, that’s a very kind offer, but I think I’ll pass. If you see your father do let him know that I’d like to speak to him.” 

 

    Jyn hesitated, clearly this wasn’t the answer she was searching for, and Cassian started to piece together that the reports on her were very  _ wrong _ . She wasn’t what the others had believed, though she made them believe it well enough. Cassian could read her, the way she fidgeted around with her necklace of a kyber crystal, the way she bit her lip, the way she had managed to close some of the space between them knowingly while trying to stand up just a bit straighter. She was luring him, into what he didn’t know, and he didn’t plan to find out, he wasn’t going to let himself fall for it, and he surely wasn’t going to let Joreth Sward be so easily exposed after so much time was spent building him up in the Empire. 

 

    “He’ll be gone the rest of the week.” Jyn replied. “I could show what he’s been working on.” 

 

    “I’ll wait for him to explain it himself, thank you.” Cassian countered, at least he had to give her credit for trying. 

 

    “You’re awfully young to be a Senator.” Jyn changed the topic quickly, she was trying to capture his interest and capture it she did, though it wasn’t enough to make him a fool. 

 

    “There have been younger.” Cassian replied curtly. 

 

    Silence filled the room for a moment, Cassian didn’t know when he’d taken a step closer to her or she to him, he hadn’t paid attention which scared him - he always paid attention. 

 

    “I suppose you’re right.” She answered, her voice more hushed than before. “Well, I’ll be going, enjoy your day. I’m sure you’ll have plenty of time to catch up on sleep or something while my father is gone.” Jyn broke their moment and snapped Cassian back to reality as she walked towards the door. “I’ll be around if you change your mind.” 

 

    Jyn Erso was perhaps going to be far more of a challenge than Cassian had originally thought.

 

* * *

  
  


    Admittedly, Cassian knew Jyn was right, there wasn't much for him to do on Eadu with Galen gone, but he knew the last thing he was going to do was to play into her own little trap and seek her out. He occupied himself by heading to the flight bay, grabbing a Commander and having him go over the schedules of deliveries the shuttles had. Even just gaining that information alone would be a huge help for the Rebellion, though all the shuttles were sent out with were kyber crystals, he knew where they were going with them, and it was right to the super weapon itself. However, one of the shuttle pilots had captured his attention as the Commander started droning on and on about the massive shipments of kyber. 

 

    The pilot was young, probably even younger than Cassian himself, and what made him stand out was the way he acted. All of the other pilots were almost like droids, lifeless behind the eyes and doing whatever they were told - this pilot had fear in his eyes, and the only reason he got away with no one noticing this was because no one around him cared to notice. He was trying to keep himself looking occupied, but his eyes were scanning over every inch of the room, watching, waiting for a moment to do what he needed. Curious to see what this pilot was indeed up to, Cassian feigned interest in what the Commander had to say again, and moments later the young pilot was heading to leave the flight bay. 

 

    Cassian left abruptly, claiming he heard what he needed and started keeping a close tail on the pilot, going to places that shuttle pilots shouldn't really have a need to go to. He followed him up to the labs, to Galen Erso’s lab to be correct, which was shut down and empty given Galen was in the mines. The pilot left something on Galen’s desk, a holo message from the looks of it, and as he quickly turned to leave, Cassian hid from his line of sight before sneaking into Galen’s office to grab the message himself. What did a shuttle pilot have to do with Galen Erso? 

 

    He could get messages out, Cassian figured, he was a pilot after all, and wherever he was going there could be someone Galen needed to talk to, and needed a pilot to deliver the messages - someone he could trust of course, and someone Cassian needed to learn more about. But Cassian knew one thing, all the shuttle pilots went to Jedha to bring back kyber, the refined kyber went to the weapon, and since only a select few went to the weapon, Cassian could bet that this pilot went to Jedha. He'd have to see the message to figure out the rest, but at least he had a start. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


    Kaytoo had already been in Cassian’s quarters, waiting for his return, and Cassian put him to work right away. 

 

    “He was that one.” Cassian pointed out the pilots photo in the lineup Kaytoo had pulled up. 

 

    “His name is Bodhi Rook, he's been a pilot for about a year now, was born on Jedha, and has no record of any kind of defiance to the Empire. Kaytoo stated. 

 

    “Does he go to Jedha to pick up kyber?” Cassian asked. 

 

    “Yes, all of his deliveries to this base have been on time...except for one. The one from today, he was ten minutes behind schedule, claimed that zealots attacked the loading bay and had everyone late, strangely enough there is an official report filed if this attack happening, so he wasn't lying.” Kaytoo said. 

 

     “That attack sounds like a distraction.” Cassian mumbled. 

 

    “It's quite possible.” Kaytoo said. “As for the message, it's encrypted, its take weeks to decrypt without knowing the key, and it's something I've never seen before. We could tag it to download the message once Galen has opened it.” 

 

    “No, he'd notice something like that.” Cassian sighed. “I'll put it back, I'll watch the pilot, seems afraid, I could use that to find out what he's doing on Jedha that involves Galen.” 

 

    “The old fashioned way then.” Kaytoo handed Cassian back the holo which he tucked away in his pocket, he'd have to return before dinner sometime. 

 

    There was something different about Kaytoo however, that Cassian had only noticed just now. “Did you get repainted?” He questioned, noticing his trusty droid had a bit more sheen to him than usual, and no scratches. 

 

    “Yes, against my own will.” Kaytoo protested. “I was in low power mode with the others and when I woke up, I was like this. I hate it.” 

  
    “Don't worry, if something goes wrong you'll get those scratches back.” Cassian couldn't help but laugh. 


	3. A Curious Feeling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This chapter is a bit shorter than the other two, but good things will begin happening in the next chapter that much I can promise you guys ;) I hope you guys like this little update, I have plenty more Rebelcaptain fics in the works!

    Bodhi always did what he was told nearly his entire life, he’d argue against it sometimes of course, but for the most part, he always did what he was told. It’s what got him where he was now, a pilot for the Empire, and all it took was for someone to grab him by the shoulders and shake him awake - to make him realize that he controlled his own life, not other people. Naturally of course, this awakening came with someone telling him what to do - that someone being the head scientist of this base, Galen Erso himself. It would have been easy for anyone to find out he was born and raised on Jedha, that he knew the planet like the back of his hand, and that his route just so happened to keep him going to Jedha on an almost constant basis; having grown up on Jedha, Bodhi was no stranger to the name  _ Saw Gurrera _ . 

 

    He was surprised to learn that Galen Erso, Imperial scientist, had known and was friends with the infamous rebel Saw Gurrera, but after joining the Empire, nothing shocked Bodhi too much anymore. Galen had tasked him with aiding in keeping him and Saw in contact for updates that Galen could give him on the weapon and possibly give to the rebellion, though nothing so far had come of the rebels actually making a move to destroy the weapon. It was easy enough to get the messages back and forth, that was no problem, pilots came to Jedha all the time and were given free roam of the city while troopers loaded up their shuttles, all they had to do was make sure they got back to Eadu on time. The difficult part was getting Saw to trust him at first, once earning that trust however, Saw had seen Bodhi as an asset, and suddenly he had two rebels telling him he was doing the right thing. 

 

    He felt he was, deep down in his heart past the rush of fear he got whenever he returned with a message, he  _ knew _ he was doing the right thing. He just prayed that he’d be able to leave the Empire in one piece someday soon before getting discovered by someone else. 

 

    “Bodhi.” A somewhat familiar voice pulled Bodhi out of his work on his shuttle. “What are you doing?” She hissed. 

 

    Jyn Erso, daughter of Galen, seemingly never really pleased with anything that was around her, through probably the most dedicated rebel Bodhi had ever seen next to Saw Gurrera. 

 

    “I’m fixing the alternator on my ship...why?” Bodhi question, scanning the room behind her, it wasn’t often that science officers came to the flight bay, if someone spotted her it would certainly raise questions. 

 

    “This.” She pulled the holo chip out of her pocket briefly before shoving it back into hiding. “My father’s up in the mines and this was just lying around.” 

 

    “I know, but it’s encrypted, Galen said to leave it on his desk in the usual place.” Bodhi assured her, hoping it would calm her anger before it got them both noticed. “Saw encrypted it with something not even the best droids can crack without a few weeks of work into it.” 

 

    “And what if someone found it?” Jyn asked. 

 

    “I was just doing what I was told.” Bodhi was exhausted, the chaos on Jedha was only getting worse every visit, and the last thing he needed was the ever furious Jyn Erso breathing down his neck. “And if you have it, than clearly no one found it.” 

 

    Jyn let out an exasperated sigh and looked as if she were on the verge of screaming to the heavens. 

 

    “What’s wrong with you, you’re...angrier than usual.” Bodhi noted. 

 

    “There’s a Senator here on the base, I don’t trust him. He’s staying until the weapon is finished.” Jyn said. 

 

    “Senator?” Bodhi questioned. “Which one?” 

 

    “Joreth Sward, sound familiar to you?” Jyn asked. 

 

    “Sort of.” Bodhi nodded. “All I heard was that he funded most of this place and the weapon, that’s it.” 

 

    “Dammit.” Jyn hissed. “I can’t find anything on him, I don’t like not knowing, it makes him dangerous.” 

 

    “All Imperial Senators are dangerous.” Bodhi pointed out. “I wouldn’t worry too much, he’s a senator, all he cares about is the money he’s invested in this place probably. I’ll steer clear of him, but I don’t think there’s anything to really worry about.” 

 

    “Fine, just...avoid him if you can.” Jyn relented. “I’ll keep this until my father get’s back.” 

  
  


* * *

  
  


    Joreth Sward irked Jyn to no end, she hated not knowing anything about someone who was the enemy - and an Imperial senator was the epitome of being an enemy. There had to be some way of finding out something about him, outright seducing him wouldn’t work as it worked with most men, she’d have to try a more gentle approach to it then. Any little bit of information he could slip up about himself would be something she could work with, having  _ anything _ to work with on him right now would be a gift. There was one place she knew she could go to start building up a foundation with him, somewhere public to disprove what her intentions may have been approaching him privately, something to build up trust. 

 

    The mess hall was where almost everyone on the base showed up at some point, she could just show up at dinner time and sit down with him, have a chat about the kyber crystals and their progress, or at least she hoped she could do that without his personal bodyguard/droid removing her from the table. Naturally he was there, everyone avoiding him as if he carried a deadly disease, with his ever looming and towering companion sitting beside him - it was odd for a droid, but Jyn knew that Joreth must have reprogrammed him in some way, the droid showed too much personality to be just like the others. Jyn took a deep breath, and hoped that this plan of hers would actually work, at least have him talking to her a bit more if nothing else, and approached him. 

 

    She planted herself at the table right across from him, no announcements, and no questioning whether she could actually sit there or not, she just sat down and waited for him to pull his gaze away from his data pad and to look over at her. 

 

    “Yes, Miss Erso?” He questioned, never moving his eyes from the data pad, though the droid seemed to be watching her intently enough.  

 

    “My father has delayed his trip out in the caves for a few extra days, he won't be back until next week.” Jyn lied, he'd be back in two days, but Senator Sward didn't need to know that. 

 

    That was enough to capture his attention, and while nothing in his gaze seemed to shift as it landed on her, he seemed slightly annoyed. 

 

    “I figured I'd offer the tour of the lab again, we've made more progress with the kyber crystals today either way, at least it's something to show you while you wait...unless you'd rather just wait.” Jyn smirked, she knew she was pushing his buttons, his clenched jaw told her that, but something about her  _ liked _ getting under his skin, even if it was dangerous, Jyn was always one for getting a quick thrill. 

 

    “You're quite persistent compared to the other officers here.” He noted. 

 

    “I guess I'd rather you look over things now so that if you find a problem we can fix it and keep everything on track.” Jyn thought up quickly. 

 

    He was quiet for a moment, his eyes studying her carefully before giving a slight nod. 

 

    “Alright, tomorrow then, I have a meeting in the morning and after that I can come by the lab.” He finally reluctantly said. 

 

    “Hopefully everything will be to your liking then.” Jyn said, a bit proudly as she rose from the table and tried to hide the smile on her face. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


    “You know that she's lying, don't you?” Kaytoo questioned as soon as Jyn had walked away, Cassian returning to going through the files on his data pad. “Galen Erso’s schedule hasn't changed.” 

 

    “I know.” Cassian sighed. “She's persistent, I want to see what she's trying to do.” 

 

    “My calculations tell me that she's trying to seduce you.” Kaytoo blurted out, and while Cassian didn't seem to be affected by it, he was a bit surprised. “Your records are all redacted in the Imperial database, she's more than likely trying to figure out more about you, Senator.” 

 

    “Well, she can try all she wants.” Cassian tried to be as nonchalant about it as he possibly could. 

 

    “My calculations also tell me that you don't mind her forward advances on you, in fact you find it appealing.” Kaytoo continued, earning a glare from Cassian now. 

 

    “I can use her own plan against her, I can get information out of her and feed her something about myself, I'll get more than she will.” Cassian tried to clear things up, he hated to admit that he  _ did _ like Jyn’s forward advances, he liked the banter they seemed to have. 

 

    “If you say so.” Kaytoo’s voice was full of doubt. 

 

    Cassian just hoped that he could keep the line drawn between his mission, and the fact of that he found Jyn Erso attractive; not that anything could ever truly happen, she was with the Empire after all, her father was his target, she was something that would get in the way - that was that. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


    A normal trip to Jedha was something Bodhi had found himself looking forward to, no worrying about Saw and his rebels or getting secret messages across, just picking up kyber crystal and delivering it to Eadu - that was it. He was going over some standard last minute engine checks before take off, ensuring everything was operational, when a stormtrooper approached him. 

 

    “...Yes?” Bodhi asked curiously, he usually dealt with the stormtroopers on Jedha, he had no reason to deal with them here on Eadu really. 

 

    “Your trip to Jedha has been postponed, your flight logs are being audited.” The trooper announced. 

 

    It wasn’t anything alarm, it happened to the shuttle pilots all the time, another little gesture to show that the Empire was always watching their every move, and thankfully Bodhi had nothing to hide - his shipments were always on time save for the one incident that was mostly out of his control. 

 

    “I’ll go grab them then, is the Commander in his office?” Bodhi asked, it always changed between the Commander’s office and right in the flight control tower. 

 

    “Yes, but he won’t be conducting your audit today, Senator Sward is actually the one who’s requested you.” The trooper clarified. “I’m here to escort you to his office.” 

 

_ That _ was enough to make Bodhi’s heart stop, the Senator, the one Jyn had just warned him about the other day. Was he just occupying his time or was there something to Jyn’s warning that Bodhi had to worry about? 

 

    “Oh...okay.” Bodhi replied, moving a bit slower to try and process the racing thoughts through his mind. 

  
_ ‘Stay calm Bodhi, stay calm. Just answer his questions and nothing else.’ _ Bodhi mentally prepared himself before being escorted off by the trooper.  _ ‘Just keep your mouth shut, Bodhi.’ _


	4. Audit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So I had no idea it took me this long to write this chapter! I've had the beginning half of it started since I posted the last chapter but didn't finish it until a few days ago. I was going to post this last night but by the time I get home from work on Tuesday nights I'm exhausted! For those of you wondering out there, this chapter is where things start to get a bit interesting ;) I hope you guys like this chapter, I know it took me a while but I love how it turned out and hopefully you guys will too! <3

    Cassian only ever cared about facts, he had to with being a spy for the Rebellion. He knew that Galen Erso was using this particular Imperial Cargo Pilot to get a message to Jedha, who he was contacting, Cassian wasn't sure. It was obviously something unofficial and probably something illegal, what it was however, Cassian planned on hopefully finding out. Audits were regular occurrences within the Empire, it wouldn't be strange for a pilot to get pulled aside and getting his records verified that he was actually going the places he said he was going. It wouldn't hurt if he slipped up what he was managing to do o Jedha during his free time either. 

 

    The trooper brought Bodhi into the office, Kaytoo looming by the doorway and causing Bodhi to appear a bit nervous. Once Bodhi had sat down, the trooper turned and left while Kaytoo returned to Cassian’s side; Cassian pulling up Bodhi’s file on the data pad in front of him. 

 

    “Bodhi Rook.” Cassian stated. “You’ve been with us for almost three years now, you’ve been a cargo pilot since you enlisted, but you’ve only been at this installation for six months now, is that correct?” 

 

    “Yes, sir.” Bodhi replied with a nod, handing over the tracking log chip from his ship. “Those are all my flight records.” 

 

    “Your records say that you are from Jedha, it must be nice to be able to spend so much time there again.” Cassian went on, he wasn’t about to sit here for hours and beat around the topic. 

 

    “Not really, bad memories. I just go to do my job, sir.” Bodhi stated. 

 

    “Really? What about your family?” Cassian pried. 

 

    “No, my father died a long time ago, my mother more recently. I never had any siblings so...it was just me.” Bodhi gave a slight shrug. 

 

    Getting nowhere, Cassian handed the chip over to Kaytoo who was able to read it’s contents easily, searching for any discrepancies in his records to what the Empire had on file.  

 

    It would appear everything is clear, sir.” Kaytoo announced, handing the chip back. “All records match the ones on file.” 

 

    “We’ve just been running a check on all of the cargo pilots, given the state of Jedha.” Cassian tried to explain, handing the chip back to Bodhi. 

 

    “It’s completely understandable sir, Jedha’s a war zone.” Bodhi nodded. “Do you need anything else?” 

 

    “You’ve lived on Jedha, do you know the name Saw Gerrera?” Cassian asked curiously. 

 

    “Everyone from Jedha does, he’s a rebel, his people are the ones who have been causing havoc in the city.” Bodhi stated. 

 

    “Have you ever met Saw Gerrera?” Cassian questioned. 

 

    At this Bodhi froze, Cassian could see some fear in his eyes and he knew he had him. Whatever he was going to say next would be a lie, Cassian could see the gears turning in Bodhi’s mind to think up what to say

 

    “Once, when I was a kid.” Bodhi replied, and Cassian was surprised to see that was the truth. “But I haven’t seen him since, no.”  _ There _ was the lie. 

 

    “Well, it’s for the best then.” Cassian sighed. “You’re free to go.” 

 

    “Thank you, sir.” Bodhi gave a brief nod before scurrying out of the room as quickly as he could, the door slamming shut behind him. 

 

    “Did you find something?” Kaytoo quickly questioned. 

 

    “He knows Saw Gerrera, I have no doubt that he’s been spending his time with the man on his more recent trips. That means that Galen Erso knows Saw Gerrera too, they’re planning something.” Cassian said. 

 

    “It sounds like they're planning a rebellion of their own, Captain.” Kaytoo replied. 

 

    “They might. It’s too early to tell.” Cassian rose from his chair. “If I can get more information from his daughter, we might have enough to send a report.” 

 

    “Something tells me you wish to speak to Miss Erso for more than just getting information.” Kaytoo said. 

 

    “She’s a mission, Kay.” Cassian sighed. 

 

    “You keep saying that, but there’s a ninety-seven percent chance that you find her attractive and would like to-” 

 

    “Kay!” Cassian hissed. 

 

    “I was going to say kiss her that time.” Kaytoo stated. “But given that reaction, I may have to re-evaluate the percentage of you wanting to sleep with her, it’s escalated since we’ve arrived here.” 

  
  


* * *

  
  


    For as long as Jyn could remember, she’d always had a problem with authority. Living on an Imperial base didn’t make this urge go away, if anything it made it stronger though Jyn had learned over the years how to deal with some of the superior Imperial jerks who came through the base here on Eadu. Senator Joreth Sward was a new challenge for her; he wasn’t easily swayed with her charms, and he seemed to have a direct mission in mind with getting to her father which only made him more difficult and more intriguing of a challenge for her to conquer. Today was her chance, quite possibly her only chance if she screwed it up, to charm Joreth Sward, at least enough for him to come back to her again and begin to trust her just a little bit. 

 

    She donned her Imperial uniform as opposed to the research lab uniform she wore most of the time, hoping to come off a bit more official even though she hated wearing it almost as much as she hated the Empire itself. Despite this, she made her way over to the emptied lab, all of the others had gone with her father into the caves, and if she had any shot of getting through to Joreth, her best bet would be to talk to him alone. 

 

    Jyn was busying herself with the kyber crystals, the ones that had just been refined a few days ago and were awaiting being shipped out to the Death Star. Until the cargo ship returned, they sat in the lab, lying about freely for Jyn to study and try to think back on what her mother had taught her about them. 

 

    “Miss Erso?” The senator's voice broke the peaceful silence of the room as Jyn turned to face him, putting the kyber crystal in her hand down and getting to her feet, giving him a warm smile. 

 

    “Senator Sward, thank you for coming here today.” Jyn said. 

 

    “Well, you were rather insistent, and your father’s schedule was only holding the process up.” Joreth sighed, taking a step into the lab now and Jyn noticing that for the first time, he was without his trusted droid companion. 

 

    “I promise that I can tell you just as much about the project as my father can, and perhaps in a more entertaining manner, if you’d like.” Jyn grabbed the bottle of Corellian liquor she had brought to the lab and had sitting on her father's work bench. 

 

    “Where did you get that? They don’t have any alcohol on this base.” Joreth asked, though he was curious instead of angry much to her relief, she knew it could have gone either way with an Imperial senator. 

 

    “I befriended one of the cargo pilots, they sell this stuff like crazy on Jedha. I had them grab some for me while they were loading up on kyber crystals to bring back here.” Jyn explained with a simple shrug; she remembered asking Bodhi to grab this and he was relieved that it was just to grab some alcohol instead of going to talk to Saw again. 

 

    “You’ll have to tell your friend I said thank you then, it’s been awhile since I’ve had that stuff.” Joreth smirked, and for some reason Jyn couldn’t help but let her gaze linger on him a bit longer than she needed to when he smiled like that. 

 

    “Trust me, it’s always better to listen to some of these things drunk than sober.” Jyn sighed, grabbing the two glasses she brought to the lab and pouring the drinks. “So, where should I start?” 

 

    “At the beginning of it I suppose.” Joreth replied, taking a sip of his drink. 

 

    “Kriff, it’s a good thing I asked him to bring a big bottle.” Jyn mumbled and caught a glimpse of Joreth grinning at that remark, maybe he wasn’t as stiff as all the other Imperial officials, but it only made Jyn wonder how someone could be an Imperial official and not be dull. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


    “It’s hard to believe that these small crystals can be so powerful.” Cassian mumbled, he was drunk, he shouldn’t have drank as much as he did, but hell, he was stuck on this Imperial base and a pretty girl had brought along alcohol and was just about as drunk as he was now. 

 

    She smiled and giggled at his words, a slight flush to her cheeks from the alcohol getting to her, and the top few buttons of her uniform unbuttoned. He didn’t know why, but he found her smile to be one of the most beautiful smiles he’d seen in a long time, and her laughter was something he’d want to listen to over and over again. 

 

    “I’ve never seen them in action, I mean, in like a lightsaber or something.” Jyn explained, holding one up and examining it. “I’ve heard stories about them, mostly Darth Vader’s. That it’s just this bright red blood color, it unnerves me just thinking about it. But I hear the Jedi’s lightsabers used to be almost beautiful, all sorts of different colors.” 

 

    “I’m sure they were.” Cassian sighed. 

 

    “Kriff, I should be telling you about the project, not lightsabers.” Jyn seemed to snap out of her haze slightly, sitting up a bit straighter, but it was taking all of her effort to do so. 

 

    “It’s alright, I’ve heard enough for today.” Cassian sat up a bit now as well. “We’ll save it for another time.” 

 

    “It might not be as interesting since we drank the whole bottle.” Jyn smirked. 

 

    “That’s alright, I probably should be sober for the rest of it.” Cassian laughed a bit. 

 

    A stray piece of Jyn’s hair had fallen into her face, and just as she was reaching to fix it, Cassian reached out to her first and gently tucked it behind her ear, his hand lingering on the side of her face. He was slowly pulling his hand away when Jyn grabbed it gently and leaned into it a bit, pressing a soft kiss to the palm of his hand. That gentle act was enough to make Cassian forget how to breathe for just a moment; the need to lean in and kiss her only growing as he noticed the glint of desire in her green eyes. He thought about it, of just closing the space between them and kissing her right then and there, but before he could really decide, she chose for the both of them and her soft lips were on his, her hands tangling in his hair. 

 

    It didn’t take long for Cassian to react and start kissing her back, his hands leaving her face and traveling to her hips to hold her closer to him. A few moments into the kiss and Cassian was already giving in to the desire to start kissing down her neck, his lips leaving hers and kissing down her jawline, getting a few little soft moans out of her. When he reached the base of her neck that had been exposed by her undone buttons, she let a louder moan escape as her fingers pulled on his hair just a bit, only egging him on even further. Finally Cassian had to pull away to catch his breath, and he almost wished he didn’t have to when he saw her face and the pure blissful look that was on it. Her eyes were wide, her lips swollen slightly, and the faint red mark he left on her neck that would surely bruise over night was all but calling him back to lose himself in kissing every last inch of her. 

 

    “I should go.” Cassian finally managed to say, clearing his throat and pulling away to put some space between them as Jyn’s hands fell from his hair. “We’re both out of it either way.” 

 

    “Oh? And it’s not allowed or something like that?” Jyn questioned, looking as if she had expected that response from him, almost daring him to go back to her for more. 

 

    “No.” Cassian shook his head, he was going to give some polite answer, he should have, but that damned look on her face,  _ daring him to come back _ , it was enough to drive him mad, and enough to make him give a response he thought was fitting of Imperial Senator Joreth Sward. “I can take whatever I want.” His voice was low and back in her personal space, a smile playing on her lips as he said it and her eyes locked on his lips. “I’d just rather be sober, I want to memorize every inch of you.” 

 

    If Cassian were sober, he knew he wouldn’t have said half the things he just said right now, but between the liquor and her just looking at him the way she did, he couldn’t help it. 

 

    “Meet me back here tomorrow night then, after dinner.” Jyn promised, giving him a quick peck on the lips. “And I don’t like to be kept waiting.” She whispered to him before quickly getting up off of the bench they’d been sitting on and leaving the room, a slight skip to her step as she left, Cassian helpless to just watch her and smile. 

  
    He was in way over his head with this one, and until she left, he hadn’t thought about his mission once - that made her more than dangerous, but yet, Cassian didn’t care. 


	5. Is It Still A Mission?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I literally just finished writing this pretty much, I was going to rush it out yesterday, but I knew this chapter was something that couldn't be rushed, hope you guys like it cause...you know...this is where the smut comes in ;)

    Jyn had to convince herself that it was all just part of her mission to figure out who Joreth Sward was and what his motivations were within the Empire. She didn’t want to think about how good his lips felt against her skin, or how he managed to hit just the right spot every single time. She was drunk last night, that was it, that was why everything he did felt so good, she had half a bottle of liquor, she could have gotten suckerpunched in the gut and it wouldn’t have hurt, so naturally tender kisses in a heated moment would have felt fantastic. Tonight she’d be sober, clear-headed, and her own brain wasn’t going to betray her; all she had to do was get him in bed and he’d be putty in her hands by the end of it all. Joreth Sward was a sleazy Imperial Senator, he worked for the worst of the worst, he funded the planet killer himself and was more than eager to see it in action from what Jyn could piece together from his eagerness. Jyn just had to keep that mindset tonight, and everything would go by smoothly, once she got what she needed she’d just drop him like the rest and use the information to her advantage. 

 

    Or at least that’s what she had planned, until a rather panicked looking Bodhi Rook scurried into the lab around lunchtime, his eyes scanning the entire room and shifting around uneasily. Of course something had to go wrong, things were going by just a bit too smoothly, something  _ always  _ had to go wrong. 

 

    “Where the hell were you last night? We have a problem!” Bodhi hissed in a hushed whisper, despite them being the only two people in the lab. 

 

    “I was busy with the Senator, what happened?” Jyn asked, Bodhi didn’t need to know what her methods were, he struck her as the innocent type - the kind of person who wouldn’t understand what she was doing. 

 

    “The Senator audited my flight records yesterday morning.” Bodhi said. “He asked me if I knew Saw Gerrera.” 

 

    “What?” Jyn asked, she was trying her best to not let it show that this worried her. “What did you say?” 

 

    “Everyone who grows up on Jedha knows who he is, I said I heard of him but that’s it.” Bodhi replied. “The Empire knows about Saw surely, right?” 

 

    “He’s not exactly subtle.” Jyn murmured, Saw Gerrera was an extremist to say the least, even the Rebels themselves had separated ties with him from what her father had told her. “If something else happens let me know.” Jyn tried to assure him. “It seems like it was normal, they’re always looking for defectors in the lower levels. Just keep your head down, alright? As soon as I get something more on this guy, we’ll be fine, for now just keep doing your pickups, stay away from Saw on Jedha.” 

    “You don’t have to tell me twice.” Bodhi mumbled. “Be careful, alright? I don’t know what you're planning on doing to get more information on him, but he seems like he knows more than half the people on this base.” 

 

    “I guess that means he really is high ranking then, which is exactly what we need.” Jyn said. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.” 

 

    “If you say so.” Bodhi sighed, giving Jyn a slight nod before leaving the lab, trying to blend in with the rest of the base as always. 

 

    Jyn already knew that Senator Joreth Sward was a threat, but now he’d only asserted himself as a real threat to what Jyn, her papa, and Bodhi were trying to do. He had to be dealt with, now more than ever, Jyn just had to make sure her heart wasn’t in it when she did so, otherwise things could become far more difficult than they already were. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


    As dinner time drew closer, Cassian began to get a bit antsy; he found it hard to keep still and focus on the files in front of him, knowing that a dalliance with Jyn Erso was on the horizon. He was a spy, he'd done this more times than he cared to remember, seducing someone into bed for secrets wasn't the problem, it was that damned look he gave her the night before, and those words she'd elicited from him that made him want to posses something he knew he couldn't have. Jyn was a loyal member to the Empire since birth, or so it seemed; his cover as Joreth Sward could have been was drew her in since it was always about status and power within the Empire, the minute she discovered his true nature things would be different, and by the end of three months that day would come. For now, he couldn't let the delusion of Jyn genuinely wanting to be with him cloud his thoughts, she could just want a one night stand for all he knew; though no matter what happened, he had to remember that all of this was a lie. 

 

    He was on his way out to go grab something to eat, though it was mostly to keep his mind distracted from lingering thoughts on Jyn when Kaytoo walked through the door, his new coat of paint seeming to shine even more than beforehand. 

 

    “I cannot wait to leave this place, those infernal service droids are obsessed with keeping the rest of us spotless.” Kaytoo complained. “Either way, a message came through for you Captain, it’s from Mon Mothma.” 

 

    The messages Cassian received were almost always from General Draven, so a message from the Chancellor of the Rebel Alliance was more than strange. Kaytoo grabbed Cassian’s data pad that he brought with him from the base for the sole purpose of sending and receiving messages, he uploaded Mon Mothma message to it and handed it back to Cassian for him to read over. 

 

_     ‘Captain Andor, the orders that General Draven has given you has come to my attention; Galen Erso is to be brought back to Yavin 4 alive to stand trial before all of the senators. From your reports, Erso is possibly in contact with Saw Gerrera who is a fiercely dedicated rebel, someone who wouldn’t speak to an Imperial scientist civilly unless they were proved to be rebels themselves by Saw. Erso is a possible ally that we need in the alliance now more than ever, especially with his knowledge of this supposed super weapon. Extract Erso from Eadu as soon as the chance presents himself.’  _

 

    This only made things far more complicated than they already were. It was one thing when his mission was to kill Galen Erso, now to save him and bring him to the alliance - that meant exposing his cover and earning trust as Cassian, not as Joreth Sward. For the first time since joining the alliance and becoming a spy, he had to trust someone else with his life in enemy territory where he could easily be betrayed. He almost wished that his mission had stayed the same, but there was a thought that crossed through his mind - Jyn. He didn’t have to kill her father, but he had to earn her trust as Cassian and make her see that he wasn’t lying, getting in her pants wouldn’t exactly help the problem. 

 

    “Cassian?” Kaytoo questioned as Cassian walked out the door. 

 

    For the first time, Cassian had no idea what he was going to do about his current situation, he had to talk to Jyn, and he had to make her believe the truth which would be easier said than done. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


    Jyn may have dipped into her secret stash hidden in her room before she head off to the lab to wait for Joreth to arrive, she always got nervous before going through with things like these and liquor always seemed to help in the past. She was a little wobbly, it might have been because her little sip turned into the rest of her Corellian Red, but her nerves didn’t vanish until she’d taken the last sip. Jyn figured she'd just sit down and wait for him, try to let some of the alcohol run it’s course since she was early, but to her surprise, there Joreth was, sitting at her cluttered desk like he had last night - apparently he was eager for everything she promised. 

 

    “You’re early.” Jyn announced, catching his attention; she couldn’t help but notice the rather somber look on his face. 

 

    “I wasn’t hungry.” He shrugged. “You weren’t out there either.” 

 

    Maybe if she hadn’t been so busy trying to drink her nerves away, she would have done the smart thing and gone to dinner. 

 

    “I ate early.” Jyn lied. 

 

    There was a bit of an awkward silence between them until Joreth rose to his feet and Jyn walked over to him, quickly closing the distance between them and just trying to throw herself into the moment. She wrapped her arms around his neck and tried to kiss at his jawline, he still hadn’t shaved but Jyn didn’t mind, it made him different from the rest of the awful men in the Empire, easier to forget he was part of it all. 

 

    “Jyn, I have to talk to you.” Joreth spoke up, his hands grabbing at her waist to push her back slightly. 

 

    “Yeah?” Jyn asked, looking up at him with her slightly blurry vision, a smile on her lips. 

 

    He just looked down at her, that somber look on his face still there, he was struggling to try and say something to her, but he just couldn’t seem to get the words out. Growing a bit impatient, Jyn took advantage of the moment again and started kissing at his neck, laughing a bit against his skin, the alcohol was slowly starting to take its full effect on her. 

 

    “You are far too sad for what’s going to happen.” Jyn mumbled against his skin, waiting for him to interrupt her mission again, and she wasn’t surprised when he grabbed at her to pull her away again. 

 

    This time the look on his face had shifted, it was serious and his eyes were twinged with something darker, and instead of trying to speak, his lips captured hers greedily while his fingers tightened around her waist and pulled her closer to him again. Jyn didn’t know what he wanted to tell her, but if he kept kissing her the way he was, she wouldn’t think twice about it. It didn’t hurt either that Joreth was an attractive man, not much older than her, and seemed to know exactly what he wanted when it came to intimacy; at least she knew she wouldn’t have a bad time with him. She didn’t know where his sudden desire came from, but she wasn’t complaining when his lips strayed from hers and started to kiss down her neck the way he was the night before, the kind that elicited moans from her beyond her control. The moans seemed to make him pursue her even more, pushing her up against her desk, Jyn hearing some things fall to the ground as he did so - she needed to clean off her desk anyway. 

 

    While all of the others were still up in the mountains with her father, there was still the very strong possibility of someone just walking by and seeing them in such compromising positions, and while it wasn’t exactly against the rules for Jyn and Joreth to be like this, it was discouraged. Not to mention the last thing she wanted with his lips on her like that was for their time together to be interrupted and the moment lost, she liked him much better like this than with that sad look on his face. 

 

    “We should take this somewhere else.” Jyn was a bit breathless as she spoke now, all her energy focused on biting back loud moans from escaping her lips. “My room is closer.” 

 

    “Whatever you say.” Joreth replied, mumbled against the base of her neck. 

 

    “You’re going to have to stop kissing me like that.” Jyn laughed, her hands moving to his shoulders to push him away from her slightly. “Come on.” She reached down and grabbed one of his hands, leading him out of the lab and back to her room. 

 

    She shouldn’t have been so giddy and excited about the events unfolding, but she was. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


    Jyn caught Joreth off guard as soon as they entered her room, the doors sliding shut and locking behind them. She guided him right to her bed and pushed him down onto it, no hesitation in her actions and her grinning like a fool as she climbed into his lap, straddling him and continuing their kissing. 

 

    “You’ve been drinking.” He mumbled against her lips, though Jyn could see the barest hints of a smirk playing on his lips. 

 

    “Maybe I have.” Jyn replied. “Do you want some?” 

 

    “No, I don’t want to be drunk for this.” He replied more confidently now, resembling more of the side of himself that Jyn saw last night. 

 

    Jyn fought back a blush, or tried to at least, she knew she failed when Joreth’s face lit up with a warm smile as he was looking up at her. He didn’t say anything thankfully, he just initiated another kiss, this time it was sweet and slow, something almost tender that caught Jyn off guard from the playfulness of the moment that she had initiated. Joreth wrapped his hands around her waist gently, and just the slightest amount of pressure to her was enough to guide Jyn down onto her bed while Joreth climbed on top of her and took control. He was tender, far beyond what she expected to come from him, no one in the Empire was sweet or gentle in any capacity - Joreth was different, and it certainly didn’t help her situation of keeping her heart out of the whole ordeal. If anything the drinking managed to make her feelings flare up even more. 

 

    His fingers started to tug at the bottom of her tunic, gently lifting it up inch by inch until Jyn grabbed ahold of it from him and ripped it off herself, tossing it aside on the floor. He didn’t touch her after that, it almost made her wonder if she misread something about the situation, it also made her a bit self conscious about being so bold and choosing to not wear a bra or band of any kind. He just looked at her, his eyes studying every inch of her skin, Jyn feeling the urge to cover herself back up after being so stupidly bold, but he saw her hand move and he gently took ahold of it, leaning down and continuing his mission of kisses down her chest. 

 

    “You’re beautiful, Jyn.” Joreth mumbled when he pulled away from her for just a moment, his hungry eyes locked on hers. 

 

    Jyn couldn’t think of anything as a reply, she didn’t really have time to as he reached up and undid the simple bun in her hair, letting it cascade down just barely past her shoulders, then starting the process of kissing down her chest again. He paused when he reached her breasts for just a moment before he went and took one into his mouth, his hand on the other and massaging it. He got louder moans from her when he started to take his time with both actions, his thumb grazing over one of her nipples while his tongue paid attention to the other. She might have moaned a bit louder than she intended to, perhaps loud enough for one of her neighbors to hear, though most people were likely still working, but everything just felt too damn good with his hands on her. He eventually switched sides and everything was still far too sensitive and electric for Jyn to truly contain herself. 

 

    Joreth pulled away for just a moment, and Jyn took the opportunity to grab at the bottom of his uniform shirt and tug it up over his head herself. She had to admit that she was a bit shocked by what she saw he was hiding underneath that shirt. He was a Senator, so what was he doing with all of these scars on nearly every inch of his body. Joreth knew she was studying them, he appeared almost as self conscious about them as Jyn had felt when she’d taken her shirt off. She let her fingers lightly trace over a few of them while she continued to stare in silence, noticing him tense up, Jyn finally found the words to say. 

 

    “They’re beautiful.” She mumbled while he looked at her curiously. “They tell a story, maybe I’ll get to hear about them sometime.” 

 

    She didn’t give him time to reply as she started pressing kisses to the scars she could reach, tracing the others down his back with her hands while Joreth returned to kissing her neck. Jyn wasn’t sure how long they were like this, it seemed like an eternity, enough for her to get comfortable being so bare in front of him, and then he pulled away to kiss down her stomach, pulling her pants down slowly as he did so. Jyn didn’t feel so self conscious this time for some reason when he tossed her pants to the side, she didn’t even mind when he started kissing up her legs, nipping at the inside of her thighs to leave marks behind. He finally got a reaction out of her when his kissed right at her core, his hot breath seeping through her underwear and causing a small moan to escape from her lips. 

 

    Joreth repeated the whole process painfully slowly down her other leg, though this time when he reached her core again, he pulled her underwear down slightly, glancing up at Jyn for approval. She gave him a nod though she wasn’t sure what he was planning on doing down there, most men just wanted to shove themselves inside of her and get things over with, Joreth seemed to be enjoying the whole process which was more than foreign to Jyn. When he finally got her underwear off, Jyn kicked it off the bed while Joreth leaned towards her center with a smile on his face. She wasn’t expecting what happened next; a few gentle kisses pressed to her core, and suddenly his tongue was exploring inside of her, searching for all the right places, though in all honesty,  _ everything _ felt good right now. 

 

    Jyn weaved her fingers through his hair and tried to resist the urge to close her legs, Joreth’s hands helping her with that by keeping ahold of her legs. It was a sensation that Jyn wasn’t used to in the least, something she found herself to be utterly enjoying and she wished she could have indulged in the feeling even longer. Though all it took was for his tongue to hit just the right spot and without much warning, her muscles tensed and she couldn’t hold back the cry that escaped her lips. Joreth didn’t seem to mind, taking pride in bringing her pleasure so quickly, his tongue still exploring her now overly sensitive clit and cleaning up the mess he made of her. 

 

    “That was nice.” Jyn managed to say in between her gasps for air, a thin layer of sweat already covering her body. 

 

    He finally pulled away, licking his lips and  _ kriff _ , if Jyn hadn’t just spent herself moments before, that image alone would have been enough to send her over the edge. 

 

    “Just nice?” He questioned. 

 

    “Maybe more than nice.” Jyn grinned. 

 

    At that, Joreth grinned himself too as he crawled back up her, kissing her lips as soon as he reached her again, and something about the odd combination of Joreth and herself mixed on his lips was a bit of a turn on. Jyn let her hands travel down to the waistband of his pants, tugging down at them, she told herself it was so he could get some pleasure himself now, when really Jyn was a bit selfish, she wanted to keep chasing the good feeling he’d left her with. She got his pants and boxers off in one fell swoop, feeling something almost like pride when he kicked them aside. Had Jyn been of sounder mind, she probably would have thought up protection, but the Corellian Red had clouded her mind over completely, leaving her to think of nothing but her own pleasure, and Joreth was so caught up in the moment with her that he didn’t think of it either. 

 

    Instead, Jyn just let out a series of moans at the delightful feeling of him slowly sinking inside of her, taking his time to test the waters and ensure that he didn’t hurt her - he was definitely different from every other man she’d met so far in her life. Jyn let her nails sink into his back while Joreth’s surprisingly rough hands dug into her sides, sure to leave bruises that would be reminders of her experience here in the morning. 

 

    “Joreth.” Jyn said in a breathy moan. 

 

    He went just a bit faster, speeding up their pace at the sound of his name falling from her lips. She kept it going, his name eventually turning into something completely unable to understand, but it still made him moan out in reply - her saying his name seeming to turn him on more than anything else. Jyn wasn’t exactly sure how he got her into the position of one leg over his shoulder, her hands now so far away from him that she missed the feeling, but it felt too good to be complaining about the lack of skin contact with him when every thrust brought her a bit closer to him. 

 

    “Kriff, Jyn.” The words slipped from Joreth’s lips as more of a hiss before devolving into a series of moans. 

 

    It didn’t take long for Jyn to be pushed to the edge again, though it took everything in her power to hold on, she didn’t want to be the first to let go this time. 

 

    “Joreth, please Joreth.” Jyn whimpered, it didn’t make much sense even as she said it, but she knew her saying his name just did something to him, and she cried out in wonderful pleasure and surprise when she felt him his control and spilling inside of her, a delightful feeling that sent her over the edge finally. 

 

    They’re final thrusts and groans were a last attempt at keeping up contact before Joreth finally had to pull out of her and crawl up to her side, collapsing beside her. The sweat he’d built up caused some of his hair to stick to his face, Jyn could only imagine how she looked right now feeling like an overheated mess. Despite all this, she was more than grateful when Joreth grabbed one of the blankets on her bed and used it to cover the both of them up, making sure Jyn got the most of it before he pulled her closer and pressed kisses to the side of her face. Jyn couldn’t help but be slightly mesmerized by him when she got a good look at him, rolling over onto her side to face him, he was something different, someone softer than he was portrayed to be. In that moment, the Empire and the Rebels didn’t matter, nothing mattered other than how she felt in his arms, looking at that smile of his, and feeling as content as she did. 

 

    “That was nice.” Joreth spoke up. 

 

    “Just nice?” Jyn countered knowingly. 

  
    “Eh, maybe more than nice.” He laughed and Jyn couldn’t help but laugh too. 


	6. An Unwilling Return to Form

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I typed up this short little chapter today, I thought it would be longer but it just kinda hit that point for me with it ending perfectly and the way I wanted that chapter to end without stuffing it with filler just to make it longer. For everyone out there keeping up with this fic, hopefully the next update won't take so long, I know I keep saying it but I'm striving for getting this fic and possibly my soulmate one updated faster, I might focus on those two a lot this week since they seem to be the most popular ones. Comments, likes, and kudos are all welcomed <3

            Galen Erso had finally returned, or at least that was what Cassian had heard around the base all last night. Cassian hadn’t been doing his job, not really, he’d been with Jyn, yes, but he found himself wanting to be with her just because he wanted to be her, she wasn’t a mission the past two weeks, she was a distraction from the cruel world around them. They’d gotten comfortable, the both of them had together, and as much as Cassian hated entertaining the thought of using that to get close to Galen, he knew he had to – he still had a Rebellion to fight for after all.

 

            Jyn had spent the night in his room, Kaytoo out somewhere in the base trying to extract information from other droids, while Cassian selfishly enjoyed having Jyn’s naked form clinging to his side and tangled up in the sheets. He couldn’t help but let his hands roam up and down her bare back, tracing over the few scars that were there and wondering how exactly the daughter of an Imperial Scientist even had any scars to begin with. Nevertheless, he was committing every moment of this to memory, not knowing how much longer he’d get to savor memories like this.

 

            “You’re thinking about something.” Jyn mumbled against his skin, her eyes still shut though she was completely conscious. “You’re about to rub my skin off back there, it must be something serious.”

 

            Cassian sighed and let his hand drift down a bit lower to get away from her now sensitive skin. “Sorry.”

 

            “Do you want to talk about it?” her eyes fluttered open now, her green gaze focused on him.

 

            “It’s just politics.” Cassian lied.

 

            His mission was to save Galen Erso now, his personal mission had become to try and save Jyn as well now, the Rebellion didn’t care about her, but he did. The problem being she still thought he was an Imperial Senator that funded the Death Star, not a rebel spy that was sent here to get information about said Death Star.

 

            Jyn shifted in bed now, wiggling her way to meet his lips and pull away with a smile. “You shouldn’t worry about that so much, at least not in bed.”

 

            “Wish I could.” He mumbled, pressing a kiss to her forehead in the process.

 

            Jyn slowly sat up in bed, holding the sheets to cover her chest while Cassian’s hand remained on her waist. “I should get dressed, I have to get to the lab on time today.”

 

            “Is your father back?” Cassian asked, he knew full well that he was, but he still had to play along for now.

 

            “Yeah.” Jyn nodded. “Oh, kriff, you want to talk to him. Uh, come by this afternoon, he shouldn’t be too busy then after settling back in.”

 

            “Okay.” He replied, it was easier than he thought it would be, then again, he was more than sure that she trusted him now.

 

            Jyn shed the sheets she had clutched in her grasp to get up and dressed, Cassian desperately wanted to give her privacy, but she seemed to enjoy knowing his gaze was fixated on her while she had her back to him, occasionally glancing over her shoulder with a smirk on her face. When she was fully dressed, she made her way over to him, running her hands through his hair until she cupped his face and pressed a few light kisses to his lips.

 

            “I’ll see you later.” She promised.

 

            “I’ll hold you to that.” Cassian replied with a grin.

 

            When Jyn left the room, he was left with the racing thoughts again: how in the world was he going to tell Jyn about why he was really here? Her and her father were connected to Saw Gerrera, but would she turn him in to win credibility in the Empire? He knew one thing for certain and it was the worst possible outcome to him, Jyn might not want to ever see him again, and that would sting more than being captured and condemned to death.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

            Jyn hadn’t realized how much she managed to change since Joreth became a part of her life. She was happier than usual, and found it hard to contain that happiness that felt just so infectious, though she knew eventually she had to snap out of it; if not for her papa, then for the simple fact of who Joreth was – a member of the Empire, an enemy. But her heart had clouded her brain to that fact, almost rejected the thought outright when it crossed her mind, but she knew sooner or later she’d have to face it.

 

            “Jyn, you seem distracted.” Galen interrupted her train of thought, snapping her back into reality.

 

            Jyn shook her head, trying to focus again on the work before her instead of Joreth. “I’m fine.”

 

            “Is there something you want to tell me?” he asked.

 

            “Senator Sward is coming by later, he wants to talk to you.” It took everything in her power not to just simply say _Joreth_.

 

            “I expected as much.” Galen replied. “But something tells me that’s not what’s keeping you so distracted.”

 

            “It’s nothing, really, just stress, I promise.” Jyn was hoping this would end the conversation, she was a good fighter, not a liar.

 

            Seeming to let the topic go, Galen gave her a brief nod before returning to the work in front of him. Jyn took the opportunity to leave and get some fresh air to help clear her thoughts, even if it was humid air, she needed to be outside for just a moment – life on Eadu often made her forget there was something outside of this base.

 

            She tried to ignore the questioning glares shot in her direction as she went out the doors to the covered back end of the base; most people pretended the outside didn’t exist anymore, she supposed it made it easier for them to keep working, but that wasn’t her. Jyn took a deep breath, instantly feeling calmer with air that wasn’t recycled a million times finally filling up her lungs, extending out her hand to catch some droplets of rain. This wasn’t her life, or at least she didn’t want it to be, Jyn often dreamed of days after the war, she didn’t know what she’d do with all that free time, but she knew it had to be better than being kept indoors and worked to the bone like a bunch of caged animals.

 

            Jyn didn’t get as much time as she had hoped for, she knew the others would gossip about her being out here and more than likely her father was coming to talk to her about what was wrong.

 

            “I’m fine.” Jyn called out without turning around.

 

            “That’s good to know.” The familiar voice of Joreth replied.

 

            She spun around quickly to see him actually standing there, keeping under the cover closely. The fresh air didn’t make her see him any differently, unfortunately; when he smiled, her heart did some sort of flutter, and she liked the crinkles around his eyes as he did so. There was something human about him that you didn’t see in Imperial’s, she supposed that’s what made her fail at her own plan. He was a mission, but now every time she saw him and was near him – he wasn’t – he was…her lover? No, that sounded to dismissive, it surely wasn’t the word for someone who had taken over her thoughts so easily, but she couldn’t think of the proper term really, or she told herself that.

 

            “What are you doing out here?” she asked.

 

            Joreth took a few steps towards her, stopping just short of the covering where she was, some of the rain droplets hitting his uniform. “Looking for you.”

 

            “Is it lunch already?” Jyn asked, she hadn’t looked at her data pad in hours, and with the constant clouds over Eadu, it was hard to tell what time it was at all.

 

            “Almost.” He replied.

 

            “Oh, we should go- “

 

            “I have to tell you something.” Joreth cut her off.

 

            Jyn scanned his expression, looking for some tell to help prepare herself for whatever he could tell her. Thoughts of either him being married or clarifying that this was just a fling ran through her mind, she could handle those, she half expected those from someone like Joreth. She wasn’t prepared for what he actually had to say.

 

            “I’ve been lying to you…about who I am. I…I’m with the Rebellion, you were my mission, to help me get to your father. But…my mission changed, and now I have to save your father from this place, bring him to the senate and regroup. It’s my mission to save you too, but I need you to trust me.” He blurted out.

 

            Jyn’s reply came in the form of a slap across his face with tears stinging her eyes.


	7. If This Is Love, I Do Not Want It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n: here it is finally! i meant to get this done earlier today but, you know, mass effect andromeda addiction at the moment, oops. either way, i hope you guys like this chapter! <3

            Hatred, betrayal, sadness, heartache. All of these emotions and more were coursing through Jyn, switching back and forth in a matter of seconds while tears welled up in her eyes and she started at this… _stranger_ in front of her with a bright red mark in the shape of her hand across his face.

 

            She shouldn’t have felt those things, she had been playing the same game as he had, or at least that was her first intention. Jyn had to admit it to herself that he stopped being a mission after they first went to bed together and he made her feel so wanted – like she was the only person in the whole galaxy when she was under his gaze. He made her forget about her intentions, but she was _his mission_ as he so cruelly put it, something to be manipulated and used for the better of the Rebellion, a tool. She was never any good at intelligence gathering either way, she put too much of her heart into things she knew weren’t real, she was too much like her mother as her papa would always say.

 

            “ _Your mission?_ ” she hissed at him, she didn’t care in that moment if anyone saw or heard them as reckless as that was, she wanted answers, not more lies. “You used me for the kriffing Rebellion?”

 

            “Like you weren’t doing the same!” Cassian lashed out now, Jyn recoiling back from him at the sudden tone, but also realizing that he knew she’d done the same – a far better intelligence operative than she had ever hoped to be.

 

            “I was, at first!” Jyn admitted, yelling back at him trying to summon all the anger boiling within her to keep her from falling apart; _that_ she was good at. “You didn’t notice I didn’t ask questions about you or the Empire? You think I was screwing you for my health or something? I was dumb, I trusted you, I fell for whatever kriffing charm it is that you have! I tried to use you, but I’m not like you, I can fight my way out of things, not manipulate people, I got emotional and I didn’t care who you were.”

 

            Cassian stood there, surprise written all over his features, especially in his eyes that were now wide and locked onto her. He wasn’t even manipulating her right now and here she was, spilling out her guts to him like the stupid love-sick girl she’d let herself become.

 

            “Just…just forget about it alright.” Jyn wiped the stray tears from her eyes and tried to compose herself again.

 

            “Jyn – “

 

            “You’re supposed to get my father out of here, right? To go talk to whoever it is in charge of you rebels and stop this death machine they’re building? Then do your job, get him out of here.” She snapped.

 

            “I’m getting the both of you out of here.” Cassian responded.

 

            “The Rebellion doesn’t care about me, just get my father out.” Jyn didn’t want to be near him anymore, even if it meant staying here and being executed for being a rebel, she’d rather do that.

 

            “I’m not leaving you here.” He urged her.

 

            “I’m not giving you a choi – “

 

            Before Jyn could finish her sentence, Cassian closed the distance between them, his hands gripping her waist firmly as he pulled her to him, his lips crashing down on hers. She tried to push away at first, every fiber of her being wanted to, but no matter how she tried, her attempts came off as light nudges until she gave in and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him back with all her might. The same enamored part of her brain that let her fall victim to him in the first place took over, rationalizing that he was a rebel on the same side she was, that made him somewhat more accessible knowing now that he wasn’t an Imperial senator. On top of that, he seemed to want her, he was going out of his way and against his mission to get her out of here, but could she trust him fully? Perhaps not yet, but she could try. 

 

            When he finally released her from their embrace, the both of them panting and desperate to fill their lungs with air again, Jyn made sure to put distance back between them. She could work with building up trust again, on both sides since they were both guilty, but she wasn’t going to just leap back into bed with him; there were far more important things now anyway, such as getting her father to trust Cassian and get the hell off of this rainy hell planet controlled by the Empire.

 

            “Come to the lab after dinner, I’ll talk to my papa first so he knows. He won’t trust you, you do know, that right?” Jyn asked, trying to reroute the conversation to something serious, something they needed to focus more on other than whatever their relationship was.

 

            “I’ll just have to earn his trust then.” Cassian sighed.

 

            “Just…tell him the truth, tell him everything you can so he’ll believe that you’re actually trying to get us out of here. I’ll tell him what I can, but he’ll listen if you’re honest with him.” Jyn stated.

 

            “I’ll tell him what I can.” Cassian assured him.

 

            “Bring your droid too, I know he’s not Imperial programmed, I saw him chipping off some of his paint a few days ago. I thought you just tinkered with him and a wire got lose, guess I know now he’s reprogrammed.” Jyn said.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

            Jyn didn’t know what she was going to tell her papa, she didn’t know _how_ she was going to tell him what she had done really.

 

            The messy bits were bound to come out, that she’d been a fool and put her heart into something, that she even _considered_ falling in love with what she thought was an Imperial senator because of the sorry excuse that he was different. Or the part where she had gone against his orders either way to stay away from him in the first place and directly defying that; either way, he wouldn’t be happy, and trying to convince him to trust Cassian would be another problem in itself – _especially_ after he finds out about the messy bits.

 

            “Papa?” she asked as she entered the room tentatively, eyes scanning the lab to ensure he was in there alone.

 

            “Jyn, there you are, I’ve been looking for you, I wanted to show you the kyber – “

 

            “I have to tell you something, papa…about the senator that’s here.” Jyn started with, while she wished she could just listen to her father about the kyber and trail off about her mother that he missed so much, this had to be out in the open.

 

            “What’s wrong, stardust?” he asked, concern flooding her papa’s eyes, fearing the worst right away; he always did whenever it came to her. “Are you alright?”

 

            “I’m fine.” She assured him right away, not wanting his worry to drag out where it wasn’t needed. “I just…I need to talk to you about it, and you’re not going to like what you’re going to hear, but I just need you to listen, okay?”

 

            Galen nodded, pulling up a seat beside him for Jyn to sit and speak. Her papa was always good at listening, he looked over everything analytically, until it came to having to do with her emotions. She’d try to leave that for last if she could, she needed him to hear the facts first so he could analyze everything, she couldn’t let his emotions cloud his judgement on trusting Cassian or not.

 

            She told him everything that she knew, everything that Cassian had told her that she remembered through her own clouds of emotion. Galen listened, nodding and asking questions when he felt they were right to ask and assess the situation better. And then she got to the messy bit, the part where she’d started to care for Cassian before she knew who he was, the part that she still somewhat did despite everything because they were both at fault for using one another and somewhere along the way they both cared. His face was unreadable then, he just listened and stared at her, Jyn always hated when he got like that, the same expression he used when Krennic came around.

 

            “You still trust him, after all of that?” Galen finally asked once Jyn had finished her story.

 

            “Do I trust him to get us out of here? Yes, I do. Do I trust him with…with my heart and emotions? No, not yet, not again at least.” Jyn explained. “He can get you out of here papa, we can take your copy of the plans and leave this place behind, we could get another chance.”

 

            “I’ve had enough chances, but for you my stardust, I’d do anything to give you another chance at life.” Galen assured her. “I’ll listen to what he has to say, listen to his plans on leaving this place, if it’s good enough, we’ll leave as soon as we can, we have to remember to get Bodhi out as well, he’s done so much for us, he wants to get out just as badly as we do.”

 

            “Then we’ll make sure he knows that. Bodhi could help getting us out too, he knows where to fly to be off the radar, he could find us a safe route out.” Jyn assured him, though it was mostly for her own reassurance.

 

            “We’ll get through this.” Galen brought her in for a hug and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

 

            Jyn knew her papa and how he thought, he was going to try and make sure that she got out, he didn’t care about himself. But _she_ cared about him, and she was going to make sure that he got out of this cursed place in one piece weather he liked it or not.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

            Cassian wasn’t sure what his plan was going to be to get the Erso’s off of Eadu.

 

            Kay had been downloading maps of the facility from the other droids, getting a layout of the place and passing by exits to assess the security around them. He determined that escaping via a cargo shuttle would be best, they all went to Jedha which was less than ideal, but if they were able to get in contact with Saw Gerrera from there, perhaps he could get them a ship that wouldn’t be tracked. It was risky, too many “ifs” for Cassian’s liking, but most of his important missions ended up like this, risking his life was nothing new, but risking Galen and Jyn’s lives, that was something he couldn’t afford to risk so haphazardly.

 

            When Cassian walked into the lab, Galen’s icy cold glare locked on him, he never wanted to turn and go the other direction faster than he had wanted to in that moment.


	8. Rendezvous

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n: late night update! well, late night for me :P another chapter for you lovely and loyal readers of this fic! i'm thinking of starting another rebelcaptain fic (shoot me, i know i have a ton i haven't finished) but it's a sort of space royalty au that i've seen going around on tumblr and i love it to pieces, plus i've been dying to write a royalty au of sorts for ages. if you guys would be interested in reading it let me know! <3

            “Hello, I’m K-2SO, I’m a – “

 

            “Not here Kay.” Cassian cut him off, mumbling under his breath.

 

            Galen and Jyn were still watching the pair intensely, he wasn’t sure what Jyn had told her father, but he knew it couldn’t have been anything good beyond the fact of that he was going to get them off of this planet somehow.

 

            “You can’t bring Rebel forces into this airspace, they’ll shoot them down before they even get close to us.” Galen broke the silence, getting straight to the point of the conversation.

 

            “I wasn’t planning on that.” Cassian replied.

 

            “Well what is your plan then? Grabbing a random pilot here maybe, holding them at gunpoint to take us somewhere and hope that they don’t signal here first and blow us up?” Galen asked, his face still not showing any sign of emotion.

 

            “Something like that, it’s the only chance we have.” Cassian retorted, trying to keep his anger under control though he felt it crawling up his spine and threatening to be unleashed.

 

            “It’s a good thing we already have a pilot then that hates this place as much as we do.” Galen said.

 

            “Papa, enough.” Jyn interrupted, frustration written all over her face. “You two aren’t going to get anywhere arguing and going at each other’s throats. Have you two already forgotten what we’re trying to do?”

 

            The two of them just stared at her, Cassian backing down while noticing something shift in Galen’s features as well. Galen knew what he did to Jyn undoubtedly, he knew that and a lack of trust was what was causing the tension, but they had to work together. It didn’t’ take much for Cassian to see that Jyn mattered more to Galen than anyone else in the galaxy with his protective nature, and Cassian would give anything to keep her safe after what he’d done – how selfishly he fell for her.

 

            “Bodhi, the pilot you interrogated, he’ll help us, he wants to escape this place just as much as we do.” Jyn assured them both. “He’ll get us out of here, but we don’t know where to go that will be safe from the Imperials, Jedha is out of the question despite Saw wanting to help, that’s the first place they’ll look for us.”

 

            “Actually, that’s not a bad idea.” Cassian chimed in.

 

            “Going to Jedha?” Galen questioned.

 

            “Saw Gerrera is there with his rebels, and a pilot heading to Jedha from here wouldn’t be suspicious at all. We go to Jedha with Bodhi on one of his routine pickups, we could say that I wanted to see where the kyber was being harvested from, something that wouldn’t raise too many questions and get you two along.” Cassian explained. “If we get a message out to Saw before we arrive and have him ready, we could get one of his Rebels to take us to a Resistance extraction planet, from there it’d be easy.”

 

            Everything was silent in the room, Jyn’s eyes fixed on Cassian while Galen seemed lost in thought before looking up to him again.

 

            “That could work.” Galen nodded. “Bodhi leaves for another pickup tonight, I’ll have him take a message to Saw and since he’ll be there a few days, it’ll be more than enough time to get an answer from Saw on the plan. When he comes back it will be another week before they send him out again, that’s when we all leave. The hardest part of the plan will be escaping Jedha, a good pilot could help with that.”

 

            “I know one we could ask for.” Jyn said. “He owes me a favor either way.”

 

            “As long as they can get us out of there, that’s all that matters.” Cassian sighed.

 

            “From my calculations and the data I have on hand, there’s a forty-three percent chance of failure.” Kaytoo said.

 

            “It’s better than nothing.” Jyn huffed.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

            It’d been two full days since Bodhi left, he was due back tomorrow afternoon sometime, and Jyn had done almost everything in her power to avoid Cassian in the meantime. She kept catching glimpses of him, still playing his part to the others around the base, his droid roaming the halls and just narrowly missing seeing her. For some reason when she woke up that morning, she knew her luck would run out, and as fate would have it, of course Cassian ran into as she was heading to her room.

 

            “Jyn, can we talk?” Cassian whispered, grabbing ahold of her arm.

 

            She turned and looked up at him, saw the pleading in his eyes that showed just how desperately he wanted to have a moment with her. Jyn knew she should have said no and sent him on his way, they were going on a mission to get out of here, emotions were the last thing that needed to be mixed up in all of this – especially with things so up in the air between them. She didn’t want to admit that there was still some part of her that was in love with him, or at the very least infatuated with him.

 

            “Fine,” Jyn sighed, “let’s go to my room.”

 

            Cassian followed her without protest, walking right by her side and remembering every turn it took to get to her room. When they finally arrived and Jyn got the door open, she swiftly locked it behind them to avoid any unexpected guests just dropping in on their conversation, especially now that things were a bit more open.

 

            “What do you want?” Jyn snapped as soon as they were alone.

 

            “I just want to talk.” Cassian kept his voice calm and docile, not wanting to instigate her any further.

 

            “Well, we’re here and we’re talking, so talk.” Jyn stated, crossing her arms over her chest and waiting for him to get on with what he wanted to talk about.

 

            “Alright,” Cassian sighed, “I care about you.”

 

            “Now’s not the time for that Cassian, we have to focus on – “

 

            “We’re trying to escape an Imperial facility, and as soon as they notice that we’ve all left Jedha, they’re going to be hunting us down,” Cassian cut her off, “they won’t stop until they find us.”

 

            “So, what? This is some sort of confession or apology or something before one of us might die?” Jyn asked.

 

            “Jyn, just…let me finish, okay?” Cassian asked her, something flaring up in his eyes that told her she should just let the man talk.

 

            “Alright.” Jyn said.

 

            A moment passed before Cassian started again, “Yes, I lied about a lot of things to get close to you, and yes, I betrayed your trust, I don’t expect you to just start trusting me again when it comes to whatever is going on here with us. But I care about you, more than I’ve ever cared about someone in my entire life, I don’t know about you or how you feel, but…I just want you to know that, I didn’t lie about how I felt about you.”

 

            “I guess that’s something we can both agree on then, I didn’t lie about how I felt either.” Jyn mumbled under her breath.

 

            Cassian took a step forward and Jyn took a step back, he stopped when he noticed that she wasn’t going to readily welcome him back into her personal space.

 

            “I just wanted you to know that.” Cassian replied quietly, his gaze starting to search around the room and not want to keep locked onto her green eyes.

 

            “Thank you…for letting me know that.” Jyn said, she didn’t know what else she could possibly say to all of this.

 

            “If you want to be alone, I’ll go now. Everything else with the plan is going smoothly, I talked to Krennic this morning about you and your father taking me to Jedha out on Bodhi’s next flight, he signed off on it already.” Cassian explained, making his way towards the door. “I’ll see myself out.”

 

            “Cassian, wait.” Jyn’s voice stopped him dead in his tracks.

 

            His dark brown eyes were tinged with that familiar sadness again, the look that nearly broke her heart every time she saw it. Jyn didn’t overthink things for the first time in her life, instead she wrapped her arms around his neck, got on her tip toes, and kissed him. It was soft and sweet, Cassian responding back to her kiss was almost enough to take her breath away and cause her heart to skip a beat. It didn’t last long, not that it needed to, before Jyn pulled away and rested firmly on her feet again, Cassian’s arms wrapped around her waist and holding her close, his eyes now filled with desire and his breathing now faster. He cracked a slight smile that Jyn returned despite her better judgement, despite all the lies they told each other, it was then that she knew he wasn’t lying about everything else – he wasn’t lying about how he felt, and she knew she couldn’t fight off how she felt for him either.

 

            “Could you just…stay?” Jyn asked. “Just stay here tonight? It might be the last chance we get at real sleep for a while and…I slept better with you here.”

 

            “I’ll stay,” Cassian assured her, “I just have to let Kaytoo know where I’ll be.”

 

            “Okay.” Jyn smiled.


	9. Jedha

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n: it's been over a month since i've updated this fic??? i swear it doesn't feel like that, but i'm so sorry for taking so long with these updates! hope you guys enjoy this chapter! <3

Jyn hadn’t seen Jedha in years, but it hadn’t really changed much at all. If things had gone differently, this would have been her home, then again in another life, she wouldn’t have had her papa raise her if this had been her home. She couldn’t imagine a day without her father anymore, he was all she had left of their family after all. Then there was the simple fact of if she had grown up and lived here on Jedha with Saw as her father originally intended, she would have never met Cassian, and she wasn’t quite sure how she felt about that. 

 

Cassian nudged her to catch her attention, “Are you alright?” 

 

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Jyn nodded. 

 

Jyn didn’t think it would all happen so soon, that they’d actually get to leave that place after all these years by simply just walking out of there. It was too easy, it was why she got the best pilot she could think of to get them off Jedha, knowing that the minute they didn’t show up in the destroyed temples where they were harvesting the kyber, they’d start searching for them. But now they were here and it was too late to turn back now, not that she wanted to, she wanted to be off of Eadu just as much as her father and Bodhi. 

 

“Are you sure?” Cassian asked again, his hand seeking out hers intertwining his fingers with hers, giving her hand a slight squeeze. 

 

“Yeah, just nervous.” Jyn assured him. 

 

Cassian was an uncertainty at the moment, she knew she had feelings for him - that she couldn’t deny - but she wasn’t sure how to go about anything past what they briefly had before. Jyn wasn’t sure how relationships were supposed to go past sex really, but she knew they’d figure it out along the way.

 

“We’re going in now.” Bodhi said, reminding everyone on board of the very real fact of that they were  _ actually  _ doing this now. 

 

“Percentage of failure for this mission has gone down to forty percent.” Kaytoo affirmed them all. 

 

“We really don’t need to know that Kay.” Cassian said. 

 

“Very well, I’ll keep my calculations to myself then,” Kay said, “However, if it reaches ninety percent, I will let you know.” 

 

 

* * *

 

 

Jyn had a pilot, a good one from what she said of them at least; Cassian wasn’t sure why the name  _ Han Solo  _ sounded a bit familiar to him, but if Jyn said he was a good pilot, he was a good pilot in Cassian’s mind - he trusted her. It made him nervous that the pilot wanted to meet in a cantina, Stormtroopers were bound to be there on their off time, other pilots too, it seemed like a risky move to make, but all of their moves up to this point had been risky. 

 

“Where is he?” Cassian leaned over and whispered to Jyn. 

 

He’d gotten used to feeling like he didn’t belong in certain places, he felt that way every time he had to go undercover and had to fight it, but this was certainly more risky than any of his missions beforehand, it just might be his last if worse came to worse. If it was though, his only concern was getting everyone else out alive, his job was to risk his life for the Rebellion no matter the mission. 

 

Jyn didn’t answer, instead she grabbed ahold of his hand tightly and tugged him behind her, leading him to a darkened corner of the place. When things came into clearer view, Cassian was more that surprised to see the pilot just casually lounging around as if he owned the place, with a Wookie at his side almost acting as a guard. 

 

“Tanith, that you?” The pilot sat up straighter, a smirk appearing on his face, “Oh, it’s you, I’d recognize that scowl anywhere.” 

 

“Solo.” Jyn sighed. 

 

“Who’s the suit?” Han asked, nodding towards Cassian. 

 

“He’s a friend, he’s mostly trustworthy.” Jyn replied, causing Cassian to look over at her. 

 

The Wookie let out a few grumbles and growls in response, looking Cassian over as if trying to decide what to do about him. 

 

“He’s not going to work against us,” Jyn said, seeming to understand the Wookie, “it’s complicated, but he’s with me.” 

 

“Oh, bedroom complicated then.” Han said. 

 

Cassian made a move forward but Jyn quickly stopped him, resting a hand on his chest and holding him back with a strength Cassian didn’t know she had. 

 

“Do you have to aggravate everyone you meet?” Jyn snapped at Han. 

 

“Sweetheart, I just took a shot in the dark, it’s not my fault I guessed right.” Han laughed. “Come on, take a seat before you draw more attention over here.” 

 

Cassian and Jyn compiled, the Wookie keeping his eyes on them the entire time, just waiting for one of them to give him an excuse to use the blaster on the table in front of him. Han Solo leaned in a bit closer now across the table, Cassian was just relieved that he was finally getting to the business end of things instead of toying with them. 

 

“I can get you and your people to Takodana, I have a friend there that can get you all on a new ship and on your merry way after that to do whatever it is you're doing.” Han said. “The problem is I had no idea how heavily occupied this place was and they’ve got a close eye on my ship and what exactly I take with me, they’re going to notice me taking an Imperial scientist and his daughter and it’s not going to be pretty.” 

 

“We can handle that.” Cassian spoke up. “Can you get us out of here in one piece?” 

 

“I can get anyone out of places like these.” Han replied confidently now, sitting a bit more upright and squaring his shoulders with that damn smirk again; Cassian felt the need to do the same. 

 

“Would you two stop.” Jyn hissed. “Getting my father and the pilot will be the only problem, no one will pay any attention to me, we can handle it. “

 

“Alright, well I suggest we go soon then, I’ve been listening to these drunken idiots since I got here and they’re starting to sober up, they’re on shit next at the cargo bay where I parked and they’re more likely to notice something is up after you being here than the other guys still there.” Han rose from his seat, the Wookie following suit. “Come on Chewy, let’s get the ship ready.” 

 

Chewbacca grumbled in response, grabbing his blaster off the table. 

 

“We’ll be there in ten.” Jyn assured him. 

 

“For all of our sakes, I hope you are.” Han said before walking off. 

 

When he was out of sight, Cassian leaned over to Jyn, his hand seeking out hers under the table and he was relieved when she grasped it. 

 

“You trust him?” Cassian asked. 

 

“With my life.” Jyn nodded. “He saved me once, I know he’ll do it again.” 

 

Jyn easily trusted Han Solo more than she trusted Cassian himself right now, and that only made the guilt of what he had done weigh him down even more. At the time, it had to be done, but trying to live with it now and seeing that glimmer of doubt in her eyes every time she looked at him, it hurt him, but he had to make it right. Even if it meant only Jyn and Galen Erso would be getting out of all of this alive, Cassian had to make things right between them. 


End file.
